A New Way To Cope
by twilightsdaydream
Summary: Its Seventh year. Draco takes Dumbledores offer and joins the order. Everyone is still wary of him. But Hermione shows him how to cope. Extreamly out of charecter. Reviews are always apreciated :P
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Okay so I don't own the character's but the plot is mine. I love reviews sooooo…feel free to leave them. They make me happy.

Summary: It's seventh year…Draco has taken Dumbledore's offer and has joined the order. The Order are still kind of wary of him but Hermione shows him how to cope with what's going on in a very unhermioneish way. Extremely out of character…but funny non the less!

Chapter One

"Just take my help Draco. We can save you. Your mother will be okay. We can save her as well. It doesn't have to be this way. Please. Just lower your wand Draco." Dumbledore said. A pleading edge to his voice scared Draco. Was he really going to do it?

He could see himself lowering his wand at the defenseless man. Taking his offer. Running away, going into hiding away from the Dark Lord. He wanted to find the courage to do what he needed to do to restore his families good name. But he was not a killer. Draco's wand lowered.

"I accept." He said. "But you have to promise me. My mothers safety. I don't care for my father. But you have to save my mother with me." he said.

"Draco you have the entire orders word. We are on the same side." Dumbledore said. His withered hand outstretched, beckoning Draco towards him. The shaky boy stepped forward. The door burst open. Severus Snape stepped through.

"DRACO RUN!" Dumbledore roared. And he did. He ran in the castle. Down spiraling staircases. He saw curses just missing his head as he ran.

He rounded a corner into a deserted passage of the castle to catch his breath. Someone grabbed him. He whirled around and saw Potter standing behind him. A cloak clutched in his hand.

"We must get your mother Malfoy. Where is she?" He asked, his breathing labored and uneven.

"How do you…I don't know what your talking about Potter." He said arrogantly. He didn't need Potter to know what he had just done. He had betrayed orders. His disloyalty is punishable by death if he were found by the Dark Lord.

"Don't be stupid Malfoy. I was up there. We have to get your mother and you to Grimmauld place before the Death Eaters find out. Snape could have already told them. We have to hurry. HERMIONE!" Harry called. Startling Draco for a second.

A few seconds later Hermione Granger rounded the corner as well with a nasty looking cut on her left cheek.

"Harry what? What's happened?" Hermione asked. Her eyes scanning the display in front of her.

"Get everyone to my house as soon as possible. I have to go with Malfoy to get his mother. Grab Dumbledore's pensive. I'll explain everything when I get back to Headquarters." the authoritative tone in his voice made Granger not even look back.

"Can you stand Malfoy?" Harry asked. Draco hadn't realized he had sank to the floor. His back pressed to the rocky wall.

"Yes." he said. Getting up. Wincing slightly at the protesting in his legs.

"Good. Cause we have to run to the forbidden forest.: Harry exclaimed.

A mask of determination overcoming his face. "Lets move."

They ran through the castle. Taking as many detours as possible to avoid the main fighting that was making the castle creak and groan in protest. The old walls filling with magic. They found there way out and sprinted into the forbidden forest. Draco assumed where the anti-apparition wards ended.

"Your going to have to get us there Malfoy. I don't know where we're going." Harry said. They locked arms, much to there dismay and apprated to the grounds of Malfoy Manor.

They ran up the long driveway and threw open the grand front door not even bothering to knock.

"DRACO!" A woman with long blonde hair screamed, flew down the stairs and embraced him.

"Mother we have no time. We have to get out of here. Now. I'm sorry. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him. We have to go. He offered me a pass and I took it. You don't need anything. But we have to go NOW." Draco said, in one breath. Getting all the information out as fast as he could. Narcissa looked shocked. But then smiled.

"I was hoping you wouldn't. now let us go. Lead the way Mister Potter." she said. Grabbing Draco around his shoulders. "Where are we going?"

"Headquarters." Harry said.

They apprated to the door step. Inside the Fidelus Charm. As instructed by Hermione earlier today.

"Hold on." Harry said,

"Who's there?" Hermione's voice said, a little stressed.

"Harry Potter, my patronous is a stag, escorting Draco Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy into the protection f the order." He said. The doors many locks clicked simultaneously. Hermione opened the door and flew into Harry's arm.

"Harry! Something horrible happened." Hermione said. Tears pouring out of her eyes.

"What happened? Ginny? Ron?" He asked. A frantic search inside the door and not seeing anyone else.

"No they're fine. They're down in the meeting room. Its Dumbledore Harry." she said, a fresh wave of tears coursing down her face.

"What?" Harry bellowed.

"Come inside. We have a lot to discuss." Hermione said. Ushering everyone inside. She lead them down the creaky staircase down to the basement. It looked like an overcrowded kitchen. Everyone was huddled around the table with forlorn looks on there faces.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"Harry. Dumbledore's….well you see…he's…" Lupin started but couldn't finish. He burst out into more tears.

"Harry. He's dead." Tonks stated. Trying to console Lupin and the others around her who started crying when she said 'dead'.

Harry swayed in the spot where he was standing, his eyes vacant of any emotion. The dirt smudges on his face grew darker as the color drained from his face. He fell over. If you ever thought that Draco Malfoy would let Harry Potter fall to the floor you'd have been wrong. He caught him, and placed him on the ground slowly.

***

"I, Draco Malfoy, here by am fighting for the side of good. The Dark Mark is sign of my enemy. I will fight with all my courage and strength to help defeat dark wizards and if I fail I will fight to my death, an honorable death it will be." Draco said. His induction being witnessed by the entire order. The death of Dumbledore was a huge blow to there side. 'there side' it was still a weird concept for him to comprehend.

"So be it." Lupin said. And helped Draco to his feet. The whole order was still skeptical about Draco on there side. But Harry had shown them the memory of Dumbledore the night he died and said he would honor it. Everyone backed off after that. They may not be happy about it but they held they're tongues.

It wasn't about him anymore. It was about resurrecting his families name in a good light for the first time in a long time.

The crowd dispurst, it was almost time to go back to Hogwarts. The summer break was uneventful, besides Dumbledore's funeral, and its time to pack for another years at Hogwarts. They're last year. He made Head Boy, and Granger made Head Girl. At least he'd be sharing a common room with someone from the order. They can watch each others backs.

***

The members of his house are ignoring him, and much to Draco's surprise he didn't care. He was happy to have a quite year with Granger and him sharing the Heads Duties. The common room was beautiful, like Hogwarts: A History said it would be. Every year the common room is different, to fit the people that would be living in it for the year. So it was veiled in Maroon and Green, with accents of silver and gold. It was spacious a large common room with one bathroom. A smaller sitting are up a small flight of stairs, which holds two mahogany desks and a small bookcase, a French door leading out to a small balcony. He liked it. It was nothing like the manor where he grew up, and it certainly wasn't like Grimmauld Place either.

Hermione wasn't hard to room with either. She wasn't the type to hover but if he had a question she usually had an answer. They really don't talk much. She was still unsure of him. He understood that to. He was a git for almost 7 years that they had known each other. But was it so weird that he had changed? They where fighting on the same side now.

The first few months of classes were on the boring side. It was mostly review for the NEWTS they had to take in June. After Christmas break they would be slowly learning new things. He was looking forward to that.

He was sitting in the common room when Hermione walked through the door and made her way to the other couch across from him. She threw her bag, containing her books and homework, on the ground and flopped on the couch in a huff. Her brow was furrowed and her mouth was set in a tense line. She was mumbling to herself. It sounded like she broke something. Sounded like a bowl. But Draco wasn't really paying attention. He was reading a muggle book. He had charmed it to look like a Transfiguration text book, he didn't want Granger to know he had stolen one of her books to read. He had finished all of his. He'd return it when he was done.

"Hey Malfoy?" Hermione said, it was obvious she was still angry about something.

"Yes Granger?" he replied. Marking the page in the book he was reading and set it down. He was raised to believe it was rude to give people half of your attention when they were trying to have a conversation with you.

"Are you staying with us during break?" she asked. "Harry wanted to know if he had to get all the rooms set up."

"I don't know if I'm welcome. I mean no one really talks to me when I'm there. But I have no where else to go" he replied honestly.

"Harry believes there's something good in you Draco Malfoy. Of course your welcome at Headquarters during break. We don't intentionally not talk to you. There's just so much going on with the war and all." Hermione said. Draco thought for a second. Potter sees something good in him? Did Granger see the same thing?

'Wait why would that bother me?' he thought to himself before answering her. "Yeah I'll be there."

"How's your mother faring in hiding?" she asked. This took him by surprise. She had never asked about his mother before.

"She's okay. She hates living life on the run but she knows its for her safety." he says.

" I'm glad she's okay. She's with my parents right? At least my mother said they were expecting her." Hermione asked.

"Yeah. That's where she is. Voldemort will never look for an adult pureblood witch with a muggleborns parents. it's the safest place for her that Lupin could think of. Oh by the way. Did Lupin and Tonks get back okay They were due back yesterday right?"

"Yeah. The owl came this morning. They brought back a few new recruits so it should be interesting during break." Hermione said. She was still frustrated with herself. How could she be so careless? I mean. Sure she could go out and buy another one during break but still. She loved her other one. It was blue. With green and blue swirls around it.

"Good. I'm glad they got back okay."

"So I'm going to go pack. We leave first thing. We have to be in the Headmistress' office before. We're going to floo over. We only have a 10 minute window." Hermione said. Grabbing her bag and getting up.

"Okay. Then I'll see you tomorrow." Draco said. Picking up his book and beginning to read where he left off.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The 'Welcome Home' feast being held at Grimmauld Place was held primarily for The Golden Trio and Draco. He sat there silently, while the buzz of Christmas spirit surrounded him, wrapping him in contentment. The conversation consisted of the new recruits, Quidditch, and who was making it to the world cup this year.

"So Malfoy…who's your take for the World Cup this year?" Harry asked in between bites of Mrs. Weasley's mashed potatoes. Her mashed potatoes were especially good because she left the skins on and had previously coated the potatoes in salt. It's an art really.

"Umm. I'm not sure. England's looking good this year." He said awkwardly, smashing green beans in his mouth after he answered so as not to embarrass himself by babbling.

"I guess. England is looking pretty good this year. But those Bulgarian's would kick England's arse." Harry replied. Hermione snorted in her Pumpkin Juice. All eyes turned to her.

"Geez. 'Mione." Harry laughed, pretending to whip his face as if the splatters of pumpkin juice had honestly reached half way across the table. "You're the one who broke up with him. You act like he killed someone."

Now it was Draco's turn to snort. "He told everyone he broke up with you."

"Yes well, he's a git and that's not true. I broke up with him. We didn't have anything in common." she said. It was clear in her voice it was the end of the discussion so Draco turned his attention back to the conversation at hand. The atmosphere in the room was light and comforting, consisting of laughter and little hostility.

Harry cleared his throat after a short pause. "So….has anyone seen the recruits? Lupin said he would bring them here before dinner."

"Nah. I got an owl from him. He won't be here until tomorrow. He and Tonks need rest." Hermione said.

"You might have mentioned this earlier?" Harry replied, startled by this piece of hidden news. She shrugged.

"I forgot. Sue me." She looked back towards her food. Draco was taken by surprise. It wasn't like Hermione to forget something.

When everyone was stuffed, Hermione and Ginny cleared the table. Draco got up to help them, not wanting to just sit there anymore; the looks he got from Ron were still unnerving to him.

***

As Draco walked up the creaky stairs of the Black House he heard a soft click in the darkness. Hermione's door had opened slightly. Without warning she stuck her head out.

"Psst…" she said.

"What?" he said a little too loudly for the hallway in its 11pm state. It gave his voice an echo.

"I said 'Psst' that means quite, not 'talk as loud as you can so you wake up the whole house'." Her voice was tense but joking. It was apparent she needed help with something.

"Sorry." he said, whispering along with her.

"Come here." she said motioning with her arm.

" But I'm tired." Draco whined.

"I don't care. Please." she replied. Pleading. Draco walked over and she held the door open so he could walk through. Her room smelt a little funny, but not so bad. Bitter with a hint of strawberry. He took in her appearance. Her cognac colored curls where wet. It was obvious she just got out of the shower. But she wasn't dressed for bed. She had on dark washed jeans and a crimson red t-shirt. Her brown leather jacket was swaying over her arm.

"What's up?" he asked, a little uneasy.

"Look, I don't want Harry and Ron to know about this. But I need to go out and it's late. I was just wondering if you could come with me. I don't like being outside alone at night." she asked, still whispering. Even though they were inside of her room with the door closed.

"Where do you need to go and why can't it wait till the morning?" he asked.

"Because it can't okay…will you go with me or not?" she exasperated.

"I'll go. But you owe me big time Granger." he said, sneering at what he was about to do.

"Thank you Malfoy." she said, a huge smile gracing her features.

They crept down the stairs, careful not to move so they would creak. When they finally made it to the front door, she said the silencing charm and unlocked to door. The cold air froze their lungs, making it hard to breath. It appeared Hermione was having a harder time then Draco was. They walked for a little while before Draco spoke.

"So…where are we going Granger?"

"To meet someone." she dug in her bag, locating her wallet and her cell phone. She flipped open the small device and looked up a number.

"What's that?" Draco asked. Taking the phone from her ear and inspecting it closely.

"A phone. Now please?" she said, holding out her hand. He placed the phone in her hand and watched her work. "Hello? Pug? Yeah it's 'Mione. Look. Can we meet up? I got thirty. Okay. Usual place? Sweet. See you in a few." she hung up the phone and let Draco play with it. He immediately began pressing buttons with the joy of a baby jangling a set of car keys.

"So this thing lets you talk to yourself? Or other people?" he said, quite fascinated by the slender, silver thing in his hand.

"Other people. It keeps you in touch with friends." she said, walking off in the other direction. When she noticed he was lagging behind she slowed her pace. "Come on Malfoy. I have to meet someone. He won't wait forever." Draco picked up the pace. 'Why was Granger being so secretive? Why couldn't Potter and Weasley know where she was going?'

They arrived at a small muggle bar. The bricks needed replacing. Draco thought it looked like a bad place. To his surprise, Hermione was heading right for the door. He went to catch up.

"Malfoy, you best wait here. This guy is sketchy. I'll be right back" she said. As she turned on her heel and walked through the door.

A few minutes later he saw her come out, smiling and giddy.

"What the hell Granger?" Draco says. "Why did we come out here in the middle of the fucking night, in the dead of winter if all I had to do was wait outside freezing my balls off?" he was beginning to yell. She pulled him over to a deserted alley and pulled a bag from her pocket filled with, what looked like, clusters of green plant.

"Malfoy, this is weed. It cost me thirty quid."

"Granger why did you buy a bag of weeds? What the hell is a quid?" he asked. Muggle's were so confusing. Why did they sell weeds in bags when they grow in lawns?

"Marijuana, Malfoy. It's a muggle drug. And quid is the muggle slang term for money." Hermione said, opening the zip locked bag to take a whiff. She let out a gratified moan. "But Malfoy it was worth is. Its headies."

"I don't get it. You made me come out here in the middle of the night for a muggle drug? I don't even know what a drug is. So explain please." Malfoy said with a hand up to his chin and the other gesturing for her to continue. Hermione held the open bag up to his face.

"Smell." she demanded. He did. It smelt weird although rather aromatic and soothing, like her room earlier. "It alters the users mind. I'll show you. Come on." she started back, but she was laughing and running and an insane pace. He ran to catch up. He was getting warmer, that's for sure. Ten minutes of her running in front of him and laughing they found themselves at the front door of Grimmauld Place.

"Shhhh." she said opening the door. They crept back up the stairs and up to Hermione's room. She went to the window and opened it, the cold air bellowing past her and ruffling her hair.

"Have you ever smoked a cigarette before Malfoy?"

"Of course I have. But what does that have to do with your bag of weeds?"

"You can't answer a question with a question Malfoy." she said, placing her hands on her hips and facing him. She was still smiling.

"Watch me."

"More like hear you. Oh wait we all do that. You never shut up." she laughed. He knew she was joking. He watched her crawl out the window onto the fire escape. Her face came back to the window. "What are you waiting for? Oh grab my purse." she asked holding out her hand. He grabbed her purse and placed it in her hand before crawling out the window. She rifled through her purse for her pack of cigarettes and lighter. She threw her bag back through the window and pulled out two small, cylindrical cigarettes from the pack.

"Do you know how to light it?" she asked.

"Yup." he said, she handed him a cigarette, lit hers and handed him the lighter.

"Oh my god. You made fire in your hand!" he said as he dropped the lighter. It teetered on the grate but didn't fall through.

"Malfoy…it's…a lighter…how else would…you…light…a cigarette?" she said, having trouble getting the words out past her laughter.

"Show me." he demanded, picking the lighter up off the grate and shoving it in her hand. She rolled the striker and pushed the trigger down. A tiny flame emerged from the lighter, it hissed and spat gas.

"That is so cool." he said, grabbing the lighter from her hand. The tiny flame disappeared. "Hey. Where'd it go?" he whined.

"The pressure from my thumb was keeping the flame alive." she said.

"Ouch." he said, dropping the lighter in her hand and sticking his thumb in his mouth like a two year old. Hermione burst out laughing. "It'z ott." he whimpered with his thumb still in his mouth. She lit his cigarette after she was done with her laughing attack.

He took a drag. "It tastes different than the one I smoked last time."

"Its menthol. What kind did you have last time?" she asked.

"I don't know, but it was black." he replied.

"Oh. You're one of those." He gave her a confused look.

"One of what?" he asked, innocently.

"Clover's" she relied simply. "You smoked a clove cigarette."

"Is that bad?" he asked kind of confused.

"YES!!!" she said, a fit of laughter overcoming her. Draco knew she was joking with him. That confused him.

"So…Headquarters must be different from the way you grew up at Malfoy Manor huh?" she asked

"You should see it now…it's a mess. The decorative ivy that was on the north side of the house has overtaken the side. It's broken windows out. The last house elf was set free when Potter and I went to save her. My father has no idea how to manage a house, so he'll have a hell of a time trying to fix it up."

"So no good times there I'm assuming?" Hermione said taking another drag of her cigarette.

"No there are a precious few I'll never give up. Like my first broom. My father had come back from work with it. It was a prototype for an up-and-coming company. There's this tree on the land. It never gets leaves, and there are no branches to climb on the lower part of the tree. After my first flying lesson I snuck out and got my broom from the shed and flew up to the top of that tree. I sat up there for hours and just looked at the manor. It was so beautiful up there. So every time I got angry at my father I would fly up there and just sit and think. I'm going to miss that." he said. He was looking at his feet. Hermione pulled the bag out of her pocket. She said.

"The summer of 4th year my mom and I got into a huge fight and I ran out of the house. I had just gotten back and I hadn't seen any of my muggle friends in almost a year. So I ran to Rachel's house and to the tree house our dad's built for us. She and Josh were up there smoking a bowl. They were so shocked to see me so upset. They handed me the bowl and showed me what to do. And since then I've never looked back." she said, handing him the bag. "So do you want to try?" she asked flicking her dead cigarette onto the street below.

"Sure." he said. A little intrigued that Hermione had opened up to him slightly. She climbed back through the window and he silently followed.

"This is a bowl." she said, showing him a small, green and pink object that fit in the palm of her hand. "How long can you hold your breath?" she asked.

"2 minutes. How can anyone eat out of something so tiny?" he asked. She laughed again. He hadn't seen her laugh so much since earlier when they snuck out.

"Malfoy. You don't eat out of it. You smoke out of it." she managed to grind out between her teeth.

"You mean I have to touch the lighter thing again?" he whined.

"Not only that. You're going to light it." she said triumphantly. He looked scared. Did she really expect him to light the contraption by himself? Oh yeah she did.

She packed the bowl, the plant only slightly sticking to her fingers. "Headies. The best bud you can buy." she breathed in the earthy scent and sighed.

"Ummm….Granger? I don't think I can do this." he said, his voice a little shaky. He watched her take a hit, her thumb flicking over the tiny hole in the side. "I think I may break the tiny bowl."

"You won't." she said. She was holding the smoke in so her voice was strained. She exhaled the smoke and it crept along the windowsill and was released into the outside world wrapping itself around the unsuspecting people below. She passed him the bowl. "Your hit."

He took the small bowl in his hand mimicking the way Granger held it. Next she handed him the purple lighter. "Okay. Now, Draco, put your thumb on the striker." He did as instructed. "Good. Now roll your thumb down to the trigger and hold it there." he did. A tiny flame emerged from the lighter. He smiled.

"YES! I did it." he said gleefully. He blew the flame out. "Aww."

"Good job dumbass…Now hold your keep your thumb on the carburetor on the bowl. Hold the flame to the bud, and suck in. It may feel weird at first. But I promise it will be worth it." she said, her eyes half closed already. He did. The smoke hit the back of his mouth, nearly choking him from the lack of oxygen being pulled in by the act. But he held on, pulling in as much as he could. He held it in and took the bowl away from his mouth.

"Good now hold it in for as long as you can." she instructed. Nearly a minute later he exhaled. Not nearly as graceful as Hermione did. It blew out in her face. She laughed and waved it away from her face. "Now you wait." She took a second hit from the bowl as she waited.

1.

'I don't see what's so great about this.' he thought.

2.

'Granger and her fucking weeds.'

3.

'My head feels kind of funny.'

4.

'Like its growing hair on the inside.'

5.

'Granger has very bushy hair.'

6.

'How does she balance herself?'

7.

'Hm.'

8.

'Hmmmmmm.'

9.

Draco doubled over in laughter tears streaming down his face, all Hermione could do was smirk. "Told you so."

10.

Draco Malfoy was stoned.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

2 bowls later…

Draco and Hermione were sprawled across her bed, staring at the putty and clay pattern of the ceiling.

"You know what I don't understand Hermione? Why Death Eaters unmask themselves before they kill. It just bothers and confuses me. I mean, do they do it because they want they're victim to know who killed them? Is it because they get satisfaction at the terrified looks they get? It's just really weird to me. I'm glad I didn't go through with the orders I was given. Who knows where I'd be right now." he said.

"Probably dead. Harry would've killed you." she replied. "I mean, Dumbledore was Harry's mentor. He's the one who gave us the courage to not give in to Voldemort." she reached into her purse and pulled out her IPod. She knew what was coming next…

"What's that Hermione?" Draco asked.

"A Muggle Music Device." she said, accenting every word. "I'm thirsty. Are you thirsty?" she asked.

"Yes." he answered, turning on his side, swinging his legs off the bed. "Whoa! Head rush." he laid back down.

"I'll get it." she said. "Besides you're a noob. You're defiantly not going down there."

"What the fuck is a noob?" he asked. His hand was on his head, attempting to control the spinning.

"You know?…noob?…newbie?….new to this?"

"Yes. Alright. I get it." he said gruffly. The spinning world really needed to stop. Hermione hopped of the bed, her legs shaking slightly. She walked over to the door, fighting with the knob for a minute, trying to remember which way to turn the ornate silver handle to open it.

"Having some trouble over there?" Draco asked smugly.

"Nope." she said as she triumphantly opened the door and strolled out. Thoughts were racing through Draco's head. 'I never realized how nice she was. Like, really nice.' 'Oh. These drapes are pretty. I never liked Maroon, but this Maroon is nice. Flows quite nicely with the décor…' and 'Merlin, Granger and I have spent hours together and neither of us have would up hexed.' He spied the muggle contraption on the foot of the bed. Should he risk sitting up and the world resuming its unstoppable spinning just to satiate his quiet curiosity toward the thing? Or should he wait until Granger got back?

"Hmmm" he said. His throat felt weird. And his skin was kind of humming the way the reeds in a harmonica would vibrate. He liked this feeling. He and Granger should do this more often.

The door creaked open and Hermione tripped her way in, without spilling a drop of pumpkin juice, much to Draco's surprise. His legs wouldn't cooperate with him like this. He was stunned Granger could even stand, let alone walk.

"Here we are." she said in a singsong voice, handing him a cup, filled to the brim. He sat up to take a sip and spilled a little down his shirt. He drank deeper; he hadn't realized how parched and dry his throat was.

Hermione made her way to the window, draining her cup of Pumpkin Juice, and sat on the window sill. She opened the frosted glass and leant against the frame.

"It's cold." she said.

"It's winter smart one." Draco responded, placing the cup to his lips.

"I can see my breath." she said, fog creeping slowing out of her mouth. Draco took a swig in total unawareness before attempting to let out a breath.

"My breath is Pumpkin Juice." he said. Hermione turned to look; Draco was sitting up, looking at the puddle of juice in front of him. Hermione burst out laughing.

"Stop laughing at me! I'm really concerned." he whined. She just couldn't stop; Hermione fell off the window seat and started rolling around on the floor clenching her stomach with her arms.

"Draco. You just took a sip of your drink." She managed to breathe out between the fit she was having.

"Oh." was the only thing Draco could say. He laid back on the pillows and Hermione got up and went over to where she was laying before. Tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard.

A knock came to the door. Draco sprang out of bed and out the window. Hermione started laughing and his speedy get-a-way and attempted to muffle it with her hand.

"Come in." The door creaked open and Harry and Ron poked their heads in.

"May we come in?" Harry said, oblivious to the bloodshot eyes that were almost looking through him.

"I just said that."

"Oh." they walked in and sat on the edge of her bed. "We just came in to say goodnight."

"'Night boys. See you in the morning." she said, glancing at the window. The boys looked taken by surprise. She had never been short with them, well, unless she was mad at them. She didn't look mad.

"..night." They got up off her bed and went to the door, closing it, and casting her one last glance. She waited till she heard they're footsteps going down the hallway before getting up and going over to the window.

"Psst…Draco. It's safe to come back in." she whispered out the window. His head popped up. "Geez. Draco. Give me a heart attack much"

"Sorry." he whispered back, climbing through the window and collapsing on Hermione's bed. Hermione climbed into her bed next to him. Soon enough they were peacefully asleep.

***

Draco cracks an eye open. 'Stupid light.' he thought. Closing his eyes and rolling over. His arm landing over a warm body, which was curled into his back. He opened his eyes, the light temporarily blinding him, and glanced down. Hermione. The night flooded back to him; his mind still fuzzy and his limbs not cooperating with the commands his brain was giving out.

The scent of strawberry fusion floods his nose. 'How does one fuse with strawberries?' he thinks. He nudges Hermione, prodding her ribs. She rolls over, to the farthest corner of the bed, and curls up in a little ball.

He pushes her again, a little too hard causing her to roll right off the bed, landing on the floor with a thump. She bolts upward, surveying her surroundings.

"What the fuck?" she half yells.

"Hermione we are using our inside voices." Draco says, like a father chastising his child for being too loud at the dinner table.

"I'm sorry. But it seems that the oaf lying in my domain has pushed my off MY bed, so pardon the level of my voice in the morning, but it seems I've woken up on the wrong side." She laughed. She usually sleeps on the right, which is the side a blond ferret was currently occupying.

Draco laughs. The sight in front of him was fairly amusing. A slightly pissed off Hermione gets on her knees and looks at him sweetly.

"Wake and Bake?" she asks, grabbing her bag and rifling through it till she found the bag containing what she wants.

"Huh?" was all the burnt out Draco could muster, trying to lift his head off the pillow. The energy had left his body.

"Wanna smoke another bowl?" she asked sweetly, muttering 'noob' under her breath.

"Right now?" he whined, his fuzzy mind trying to make his body move.

"Well…it's 4:20 somewhere man." she said. Her wit was like a knife cutting into Draco's brain. He had no idea one could be so confused.

"4:20?" he questioned.

"Okay Draco time for a history lesson. April 20th was the day that Bob Marley died. Bob Marley believed that smoking weed was good. That it opened your mind to new things. He strongly believed and gathered many people, that weed should be made legal. To this day it isn't but it's starting to gather many followers, governments in a few countries like Canada and Germany have opened there minds to the use of weed for medical reasons. So at 4:20 hard users of weed will light up and commemorate Bob Marley, and everything he believed in." When Hermione was done Draco just stared at her. He had no idea that muggles used this on a regular basis. He was floored.

Hermione motioned to the packed bowl in her hand and that brought Draco to his senses.

"Let's do it." he said. With that Hermione grinned and handed him the bowl.

"Will you do the honors?" she asks, giving him the first hit.

Draco took a hit and the vertigo he was battling slightly eased as the smoke hit his system. He handed the bowl to Hermione and watched her take a hit.

'She is quite pretty.' Draco thought to himself.

"Here." she said, coughing slightly, the smoke coming out of her mouth in small short puffs.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Placing the bowl on the table and kneeling down next to Hermione who was still coughing pretty roughly.

"I'm good." she wheezed out. "Took too much at once." she added after her coughing spell was over.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Draco sat back up, and grabbed the bowl, lighting it, and taking in the gassy smoke. When the bowl was beat, Hermione put it back in her bag.

"Oh. I love this part." she says, rubbing her growling stomach. Draco hadn't realized his own hunger pangs. "Munchies." Hermione said. "You want breakfast?"

"Hell yeah." he said. "I don't think my legs are going to cooperate though."

"Oh they will. Smell." she said, smelling the air. "Molly's making pancakes."

His legs instantly reacted to the word; Draco found himself getting up and lifting Hermione up over his shoulder.

"What are we waiting for?" he said, carrying her out the door, and down the spiral staircase, getting slightly dizzy. Everyone was in the dining room. Draco sat a laughing Hermione in a chair and quietly sat in the one next to her, looking as if what he had just done was completely normal.

"Ummm, good morning Mione. Malfoy." Ron said, casting a sideways look at Harry, whose jaw was swinging upward, snapping shut.

"Morning." Hermione and Draco said in unison, then looking at each other and busted out laughing.

"Am I missing something?" Harry asked, his jaw tight and his mouth pressed in a hard line, clearly showing Hermione he was unhappy at what he had just witnessed.

"No. Draco came to see if I was awake, I was, we started heading down the stairs when I tripped. He caught me and threw me over his shoulders saying Staircase Challenged people shouldn't attempt several flights."

Draco was surprised at how easily Hermione had lied to her best friends. He thought they would have a long drawn out argument, but they looked at each other and started laughing.

"Hermione you are Staircase Challenged." Ron said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Hermione said, as Ginny walked down the stairs with a heaping plate of pancakes for everyone. Conversation was completely nonexistent as they ate.

***

Hermione and Draco helped clean up before going back up to Hermione's room.

"Shower then meet me back here in a half hour ok?" Hermione said looking at Draco as she went to grab a clean towel from her trunk.

"Where we going today Hermione?" Draco asked, the curiosity leaking into his voice.

"Christmas shopping Dummy. I have a few more gifts I have to get. Harry and Ron, you, my parents, Ginny. So go shower. Shoooo." she said waving Draco out of her room before shedding her shirt and walking over to her bathroom.

Draco looked at her door for a second, puzzled. He and Hermione were going shopping?? It seemed like such a domestic thing to do when you had a bounty on your head by a deadly dark wizard.

He walked down the hall to his room. Thankfully no new recruits had wanted to share a room with him. He shed his pumpkin juice stained t-shirt and walked over to his bathroom.

After his hot shower, he went back to his trunk and fished out some muggle clothes; dark jeans and a black button down shirt. It looked normal enough.

When it was time to meet Hermione he went back to her room and knocked on her door.

"Come in Draco." said a muffled singsong voice. He walked opened the door and saw a squeaky clean Hermione brushing her hair and on the cell phone thing.

"Yeah. Sure Pug. No problem. We'll stop by when we're done Christmas shopping." She said to the person on the other line, presumably Pug. "Bye.'

"Hey." Draco said, yawning and stretching. He took in Hermione's appearance. Dark jeans, similar to his, and a multi colored shirt with spirals of pink and green.

"Hey. Ready to go?" she asked grabbing her coat and bag.

"Yup." he said, his own coat hanging over his shoulder.

"Let's go. I convinced Harry and Ron that we were heading out for gifts and they don't need to go with us so it's just us." she replied, walking through the door stifling a yawn.

They ran down the stairs, Hermione tripping over her feet only once, and out the door yelling a goodbye over their shoulders to Harry, Ron, and Ginny who were sitting in the living room.

They apparated to the muggle shopping district and began browsing the storefronts looking for anything that would catch they're eye.

Hermione saw a store and headed right for it. It was called 'Transfixion' it had a dark purple storefront with little stars in the windows.

Draco followed. He watched her browse through the racks of cloths talking to herself.

"Okay, Ginny's a size four…lucky bitch…that means black mini when we go clubbing, white denim skirt for casual wear, and….yes! Green halter for her date with Harry." she picked the items off the rack one by one and going to the counter.

"Would you like them wrapped miss?" the man behind the counter asked.

"Yes please." Hermione said sweetly.

When the man had finished wrapping the cloths Hermione handed over the money and grabbed the bags, leading the way out of the store.

They head into a small alley where Hermione shrinks the bags and puts them in her pocket.

Throughout the rest of the day the two heads laugh and kid around with each other like they had been doing it for years. With a short separation when they went to get each other's gifts, which was very hard for Draco, they met back up. Hermione had a triumphant look on her face.

"So you ready to head back Mr. Malfoy? Oh but we have to go meet Pug." she asked, stifling a yawn with her hand.

"Okay. We ran out already?" Draco said, yawning on his own.

"Ha! Yawning is contagious, and no. I have a bowl pack but we go back to school soon. I'm paying for what we'll be taking back." Hermione said, reeling with laughter.

"Hm I wish you'd let me help pay for it."

"We talked about this earlier Draco. You pay when you arrange a buy." Hermione said, placing her hands on her hips; she looked quite ridiculous with the bags trailing up her arms. Draco laughed.

"Yes ma'am."

Linking arms again, Hermione lead the way to the alley and they apparated to the bar they had previously gone to last night.

"I'll be right here." Draco said.

"Nonsense. It's colder then it was last night. And you're going to meet Pug." Hermione said. "I told him you were coming. He's kind of weird so be on guard. Keep your hands in your pockets. His friends like to pickpocket." Hermione said, leading Draco into the muggle bar.

A blast of warmth hit him in the face. It was very nice in there, although the people were looking at Draco like he was a pot of gold. Hermione dragged him through the pub and up a flight of stairs. She knocks on the door at the top and someone asks whose there.

"Hermione and friend." she says to the door. The lock clicks and opens to reveal a nice apartment over the pub. You wouldn't know by looking at the place.

"Hey Hermione. Sorry. But you know how Pug is bout security. Who's your friend?" the large man in front of them asks.

"This is Draco. A friend from school. Pug's expecting us." she said coolly, walking past the man and into a dark bedroom.

"Pug!" Hermione called.

"Be right out 'Mione." A man yelled from behind a door, presumably the bathroom. Hermione moved to sit on the arm of the chair, patting the cushion so Draco could sit down next to her. The door opened revealing a man in a robe. He had a mop of dirty blond hair on his head and walked with a slight limp.

"You must be Draco?" Pug said extending a hand out. Draco shook it and marveled at the man's firm handshake.

"Yes. Nice to meet you." Draco replied. Apparently even with Drug dealing there was an upper class to it. Draco expected nothing less from Hermione. He wouldn't expect her to buy from a shady guy.

"Down to business then." He said turning his attention to Hermione, who was sitting patiently with a look of pure determination on her face.

"You have what I asked for?" she asked.

"Have I ever let you down my dear?" Pug said somewhat snarky.

"No, but one day Mister. I will prove to you that something is unattainable." Hermione said with a laugh in her voice.

"Ah. But you know as well as I that I have friends in High and quite low places." Draco thought this man sounded like his father. It was mildly disturbing.

"That I do. Eighty should cover it then?" Hermione asked

"Oh yes. That should do it." Pug replied walking over to a small electronic scale on a desk and fishing in a drawl for something. After producing a large bag of what looked like little flakes of what he and smoked with Hermione last night. Pug sat in the armchair across from them. Placing the bag on the oval shaped table, he began placing amounts on the scale, measuring it out. Some of the flakes fell off of the circular disk.

"Shake." Hermione quietly told Draco when she saw the look of confusion on his face. "It's better then what we smoked last night, sometimes. In this case, definitely better."

"Alright. Here you go Hermione." Pug said, handing her a bag. Hermione handed over the money and said. "I'll owl you when I need more Pug."

This took Draco by surprise. He whispered to Hermione. "If he's a muggle how does he get owl mail?" he tried to be discreet.

"I heard that boy.I may be a muggle but a lot of my customers are wizards." Pug said.

"Oh." Draco was stunned. Hermione grabbed the bag and headed out the door. Draco was in tow. They headed out the bar, Draco keeping his hands in his pocket, stayed a few feet away from the patrons of the place.

They started back to an abandoned alley and apprated back to Headquarters. As Hermione pushed open the door, Harry and Ron went into an interrogation about tomorrow night. They had agreed they would open their gifts tomorrow morning when Hermione parents and Draco's mother arrived. They all knew how dangerous the situation would be, but they had always managed.

Draco grabbed Hermione's bags and started up the stairs. She wouldn't let one of them go and slipped it in her giant purse, that swallowed it without a problem.

Fin chapter three.


End file.
